Child of Moonlight
by Child of Moonlight
Summary: Set after Jak II. Zieku was forbiden to venture out and she obeyed, until one day her longing for outside became too strong...and she runs into Jak. Rated for 'Angsty moments' R&R plz!


Hey! So after who knows how long of leaving you guys hagin' I've come back with my newest fic: Child of Moonlight. Not named after me, more like I named myself after my own character. Anyways, here ya go.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Jak II or any of its components, those belong to Naughty Dog. Zieku, tho, is all mine!

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She lived not a life, but a curse, a curse by which she was forced to hide, protecting the world from something she couldn't protect herself from. It was her curse, a curse that she couldn't remember ever getting. Her past was a blur no clearer than a intricate poem to a scientist. It was because of her curse that her mother forbade her to venture out. It made her feel mad not to being able to go outside to, to feel the breeze that her mother talked of with revere, to not be able to see beautiful, golden, day sun, the green, night sun and the gray moon. Oh, how much she loved Moon. How much she would stare at the Her silhouette upon the curtains that never opened. Her pale hands reaching out to the moonlight that managed to seep through and find her. She longed to be free like the moon, to come and go at will as She did. But when her longing turned to frustration and her sadness to anger, her dark curse would be released. _Why?_she would often ask her mother _Why do I have this curse? Why!_her mother would simply calm her and say _Don't think of it as a curse, Zieku, think of it as a gift__Think of it as a gift! How can I? I hate it!_Her mother would never answer that question, no matter how many times she would ask it. Her mother just kept looked in her room. Often, she would attempt to peek through the cracks in her curtain, reaching out to the moon _Why won't Mother tell me? Why, Moon, why? She just keeps me locked in this room. She won't let me outside!_Enraged she would become, her curse coming forth again. _NO_she would scream at herself _I mustn't get angry, I mustn't release it!_Every day would be like this for her. Every day she struggled to keep herself under control. But everyday her longing to venture out would become stronger. _Oh, I must go outside! I must see the world Moon illuminates. I must!_Until one day, her longing became so intense that she obeyed it.

* * *

It was a breezy, but warn night outside. _Perfect for a stroll around the city, _thought Jak. "I'm going to go for a stroll, Dax." he said to his friend, Daxter.

"Oh, yea sure, have fun." Daxter lazily said. He didn't even turn around; he was too preoccupied flirting with Tess. Jak grinned. Daxter was notorious for flirting with pretty women.

A cool breeze blew softly against his face as he stepped out of 'The Naughty Ottsel'; Daxter's Saloon. Jak let the breeze brush his face as he let out a sigh of relaxation. He hadn't had much time to relax ever since he arrived at Haven City. He was imprisoned the moment he got here, then tortured for two dreadful years with numerous amounts of Dark Eco. It had all been part of a plan put together that Baron Praxis, the tyrant ruler of Haven City. But now Praxis was dead and so was Metal Kor, the Metal-Head leader, the reason Praxis had started his project in the first place. But something was left within Jak that could never let him forget those events, Dark Jak, the after affects of the painful experiments. Jak shook his head. He would push those memories aside for now and enjoy the free time he had earned himself. He took out his Jet-Board and hopped on to it. Some time in high air would surely keep problems away…for a while anyway.

* * *

_ It's so big! _Zieku thought as she looked at her surroundings. Wooden planks stood atop water, nearby homes gray with the exception of few solitary lights. Once or twice, an object unknown to Zieku flew above her head. Zieku's mother had gone out for what she said was groceries and she had taken the opportunity to sneak out. _What a liar Mother is! _Mother had told Zieku that the outside world was big and dangerous. _Its not big, It's huge! And I don't see anything that looks dangerous to me. _Zieku felt safe in this outside world. Heck of a lot better than that stale room she always stayed in. Zieku took a deep breath, slowly taking in all the new smells of this outside world. The breeze blew slightly and Zieku was frightened. _What was that? Why did I feel cold for only a second? _Zieku had never felt a breeze before, but whatever she figured it was, she didn't like it. _Maybe this outside world does have things wrong with it. _The breeze blew again and she hugged he bare arms for warmth, Her sensitive skin and torn, black dress didn't provide much of it. The breeze blew harder and her jet-black hair fell upon her face. She let out a squeal and lunged herself at the ground, hugging her legs for warmth. _If I had known this world was cold, I would of brought my blanket. _The breezed ceased to blow and Zieku immediately felt warm again, she was glad that was over. _Maybe I should go home. _Zieku stood up and was going to head back to her door when a ray of light touched the ground near her. Zieku immediately recognized it as Moonlight. She gasped, "Moonlight! Where's-" she looked up to the sky following Moonlight, "Moon…". Zieku's mouth dropped and her eyes widened. "Oh, Moon, you're as beautiful as I pictured you!", she walked over to where Moonlight touched the ground and sat down cross-legged. She looked up at Moon and smiled, "Oh, Moon, I'm so glad to finally see you. I feel bad about not listening to Mother, but I really don't see why she doesn't want me to come out here. Do you?". Zieku wasn't sure if Moon could speak, but it didn't stop her from asking. Zieku looked hard and long at Moon, hopping that by someway, maybe Moon could answer her. The clouds in the sky began to move, steadily covering Moon. Now, any regular person would now that this act was not Moon's fault, but to Zieku, poor unknowing Zieku, It appeared that Moon was leaving. "Don't go!", she pleaded to Moon, "Please don't go! Please, stay!" Moonlight started to disappear from around her. "Moonlight! Are you gonna leave me too?" Zieku stood up, turning all the way around watching Moonlight disappear. She looked up, but Moon had completely disappeared as well. _Why did Moon leave me?_ _Does Moon not like me? Or did I do something to disappoint her? I didn't mean to. I never mean to! Never, do I mean to drive people away. But Mother says it's my fault. Mother says that her friends all leave her house because of me. I don't mean to drive them away, but why do I? Why do I drive them away? Or is it that they choose to leave? __Of course it's because they choose to! It's not your fault_ Something inside her was speaking. _What do you mean? __I mean that, they leave, because they're _mean_! Because they only want to make you suffer!_ _But why!? _Nothing.

Tears started to form in Zieku's gray eyes. Was that true? Did people only leave because they wanted to be mean to her? _That's not fair! _Nothing_ is every fair_ _Who are you!? __You know who I am_ A pain shot through Zieku's head. She screamed and grabbed her head. Her vision blurred and she shut her eyes. It became harder for her to breath, she clutched at her chest. Suddenly, her body felt like it was on fire. Her head was going to burst, her chest was burning from the lack of air, she felt like she was spiraling, falling forever…as soon as the terror had begun it stopped. Zieku's eyes flung open as she breathed hard to regained her breath, she felt her body covered in cold sweat and her head was pounding. She felt weak, extremely weak. She collapsed to the ground and all went black.

* * *

Jak had made his way to the Slums, a long ways from South Town, but for some reason he had felt compelled to go there. When he was near the entrance to the Water Slums, an oddity made him stop and jump of his Jet-Board; the Water Slums looked almost empty. Yes, there where signs of life there, some of the houses did have lights on. But the usually crowded streets where desolate. _That's odd. Even at this hour people are usually out. Maybe still celebrating? _Jak referred to the ongoing celebrations that the people of Haven City had been having since the defeat of Praxis and Metal Kor. Most where held at the Slums, where the people were more willing to celebrate about something as ridiculous as one of their son's cursing his first curse. But Jak hadn't seen any signs of celebration. _The people aren't seriously staying indoors tonight…are they? _Jak decided to ignore it.

Jak didn't extract his Jet-Board, he would actually walk the rest of his walk. As he made his way through the Water Slums, Jak noticed yet another oddity. A beam of moonlight touched the ground somewhere behind the hut in from of him. Curious, Jak ran around the hut, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw where the moonlight touched the ground. In the middle of it all lay a little girl in a torn black dress. Jak raised a questioning eyebrow, had no one seen her laying there. She seemed unconscious, locks of her dark hair fell upon her face. Jak cautiously walked near her. Her skin was so pale, to pale, was she dead? No, Jak could see the rise and fall of her chest. He kneeled down beside her and touched her face, but immediately drew back his hand, her head was burning. Jak rubbed his temples. _Oh man, Jak. What to do now? _Jak decided to take the girl to the hospital, she was burning with fever after all. Jak picked her up gently, cradling her in his arms. She was heavier than Jak had calculated, but still light enough to carry without much trouble. What happened next was completely unexpected. As soon as Jak had the girl safely in his arms, the beam of moonlight disappeared, but what was more is that he began to see people around, they had begun to emerge from their houses. They chattered amongst themselves and paid no or little attention to the young man carrying the little girl. Jak shook his head, he really couldn't believe how self-absorbed the people of this city where. A quiet moan brought Jak to his mission in progress. He looked down at the girl, she stirred a little, her brows momentarily coming together, but then lay still again. Jak looked around for the nearest zoomer and acquired it. It was a bit difficult to hop on while carrying the girl, but Jak managed and set the girl gently in the passenger seat and drove towards the hospital. _Man, some stroll…_

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Soo??? How was it? I'll admit toward the end I was running out of things to say, I kinda wanted the chapter to end already, why I didn't end It sooner, I dunno

Jak: because you obsessed with detail!

COM: NO I'M NOT! SHUT UP! (slaps Jak)

Jak: hey! (check slowly turning red) see! They didn't have to know my check was turning red, I think they could of figured that, I mean, hey you just slapped me for Pete's sake!

COM: yea, well, whatever. R&R please! Flames, well I figure out what to do with them. ::Jak, I might need you gun:: As to what happened to my Dark Child fic, well, lets just say I posted it way to early in the process, I basically gave a work in progress, so I deleted it. But once its more developed I'll put it up here again. But until then you guys enjoy this story.

p.s. Don't expect a second chapter too soon, I've got tons of hw, but It'll get it up as soon as possible (I've already started writing it so hopefully it won't take too long)


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